One of the many brief extrageneric texts found among her late papers after her
death, Dickinson's final intentions toward this fragment remain unknown. It may
have been destined for incorporation into a poem, a letter, or another
composition. In its present form, it appears to be a list of variant (or
additional) word choices, perhaps for a poem-draft since lost, destroyed, or
beyond positive identification. The variant, "by duller," for "to duller," appears
to have occurred to Dickinson during the initial drive of composition.